Government

A Breakaway report on federal and state
topics for small business

By

Rodney Ho

Updated Sept. 25, 2000 12:01 a.m. ET

SMALL-BUSINESS MERGERS would be easier under proposed legislation.

The Federal Trade Commission is required to scrutinize any deal in which the acquired company has assets of $15 million or more, a threshold created in 1976. Congress wants to raise that to $50 million. Co-sponsor Zoe Lofgren (D., Calif.) says the bill "will allow regulatory agencies to focus on the transactions most likely to raise concerns, but it will not...